DAHLGREN, Rudolph Wilhelm (1854-1935), an architect in Chicago, Illinois who later moved to rural Saskatchewan after 1900, and then to Brandon, Man. where he continued his career there. Born in Vanersnas, Sweden on 12 March 1854, he emigrated to the United States in July 1880 and settled in Chicago where he formed a partnership with John A. Cole in 1886 (see list of works under Cole & Dahlgren). J.A. Cole was “..a well-known civil engineer, and a brother of a senior member of his was the architect Arthur W. Cole” In 1887 their firm was already busy with several commissions, and they were “completing some important buildings and have on hand sundry designs for others” (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 16 Oct. 1887, 10). By 1891 Dahlgren had formed a new partnership with a young Finnish-born architect Oscar Lievendahl (1868-1899), but their collaboration ended in 1895 and Dahlgren continued to work under his own name in Chicago until 1900 when he moved to Benson, Minnesota.
For unknown reasons, Dahlgren left Minnesota in 1903 at the age of 50 years, and emigrated to rural Saskatchewan. While there, he obtained two commissions for buildings in Wauchope and in the town of Manor, and it is likely that he may have built (and designed) other projects in the region before the outbreak of WWI in 1914. In 1906, a local newspaper in the town of Manor, Sask. noted that Dahlgren would return to St. Paul, Minnesota "...to resume his duties as head draftsman in the architectural department of the Great Northern Railway Co.", and it is possible that his name may be linked to the design of buildings by the G.W.R.C. in the northern plains States during the period from 1900 to 1903, and from 1906 to 1907. In 1907, he had relocated to Brandon, Man. and opened an office there as a professional architect (Brandon City Directory, 1909, 126, 235-36). Dahlgren died on 4 November 1935 at the rural municipality of Ritchot, Sask. (inf. Art Institute of Chicago, Ryerson & Burnham Archives, Architects & Designers Papers, Acc. No. 00.5, vertical file for Dahlgren; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina)
(works by Cole & Dahlgren in Chicago and in Canada)
ELLIS AVENUE, near 43rd Street, large residence for Sr. J.F. Thompson, 1886-87 (Chicago Tribune, 28 Nov. 1886, 7)
RAVENSWOOD, store and flats for W.G. Stephens, 1886-87 (Chicago Tribune, 28 Nov. 1886, 7)
HALSTED STREET, near Harrison Street, a three storey block of stores and flats for Scott & Henry, 1888 (Chicago Tribune, 20 May 1888, 7, descrip.)
BRANTFORD, ONTARIO, a public waterworks building, 1888 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 24 June 1888, 10)
STATE STREET, near 16th Street, a three storey block for flats for C.V. Waite, 1888 (Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 1888, 18)
WASHINGTON STREET, near 55th Street, a three storey block of flats for Joseph Farndrich, 1886 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 5 May 1889, 18)
SHEFFIELD AVENUE, between Nellie Avenue and Grace Avenue, a row of four frame dwellings, 1889 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 5 May 1889, 18)
(works by Dahlgren & Lievendahl, Chicago)
RAVENSWOOD, a row of four blocks of paired flats, Sunnyside Avenue, for Dr. T.A. Keeton, (Chicago Tribune, 19 April 1891, 9; Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 10 May 1891, 10)
WEST COURT, near Belmont Avenue, a double flat building for an unnamed client, 1891 (Chicago Tribune, 19 April 1891, 9)
RAVENSWOOD, apartment block, Commercial Street near Leland Avenue, for an unnamed client, 1891 (Chicago Tribune, 19 April 1891, 9)
RAVENSWOOD, pair of flats for M. Baskerfield, 1891 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 10 May 1891, 10)
WEST COURT, near Lake Shore, apartment block for an unnamed client, 1891 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 10 May 1891, 10)
RHOADES AVENUE, at University Place, mansion for H.G. McCartney, 1891-92 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 5 July 1891, 11; and 10 April 1892, 10, descrip.)
ATLANTIC STREET, near 52nd Street, four frame houses for H.G. McCartney, 1891 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 5 July 1891, 11)
FREDERICK STREET, apartment block for George E. Keasel, 1891-92 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 11 Oct. 1891, 10)
RAVENSWOOD, five houses on Leland Avenue near Wolcott Avenue, for John Hoff & Co., 1891-92 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 11 Oct. 1891, 10)
WRIGHTWOOD AVENUE, west of Clark Street, apartment block for Oscar F. Kosche, 1892 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 10 April 1892, 10)
R.W. DAHLGREN (works in Chicago)
KIMBARK AVENUE, near 58th Street, a 4 storey apartment block for Frank S. Stelling, 1892-93 (Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 1892, 30; Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 13 Nov. 1892, 10)
SHEFFIELD AVENUE, large private residence for H. Friedman, 1893 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 15 Jan. 1893, 14, t.c.)
RAVENSWOOD, a row of four flats or apartment houses for P. Delaiden, 1894 (Chicago Tribune, 11 March 1894, 30)
GARFIELD AVENUE, near Lincoln Park, a four storey block of flats for an unnamed client, 1895 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 15 Sept. 1895, 14; Chicago Tribune, 15 Sept. 1895, 31, descrip.)
WEST 34th STREET, two blocks for flats for O.M. Carlson, 1895-96 (Inter-Ocean Daily [Chicago], 1 Dec. 1895, 27)
R.W. DAHLGREN (works in Canada)
WAUCHOPE, SASK. Presbyterian Church, Railway Avenue, 1906-07; still standing in 2023 (Manor Advocate [Manor, Sask.], 7 Dec. 1906; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina)
MANOR, SASK., public school, 1907 (Manor Advocate [Manor, Sask.], 23 Aug. 1907, 5; and 6 Sept. 1907, and 4 Oct. 1907; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina)
McCAULEY, SASK., public school for the McCauley School District #2186, 1909 (Manor Advocate, 2 April 1909; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina)